In a bizarre turn of events, an eye doctor from Horry County, South Carolina, is facing a lawsuit for allegedly taking a drugged patient to Las Vegas for a “commitment ceremony” after making inappropriate advances during his visits to her clinic.

Jonathan Garrick has filed a lawsuit against Carla J. Blankenship, an optometrist at Coastal Vision Center, accusing her of battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, fraud, and negligence. The case was filed in Horry County Common Pleas Court on Friday.

Garrick, who became a patient at the practice in 2021, began seeing Blankenship for treatment in April 2023. The lawsuit claims that not long after their initial appointment, Blankenship sent Garrick a personal greeting card, inviting him on a date.

The complaint further alleges that Blankenship’s behavior intensified in subsequent appointments.

Attempts to reach Coastal Vision Center for comment have been unsuccessful, though Blankenship is still listed on their website as of Monday.

“In one such encounter, Dr. Blankenship placed her hand on (Garrick’s) crotch and said, ‘this is going to be a problem,’” according to the lawuist.

She continued texting him from a company device and sent contact lenses at no charge sourced from its inventory, the lawsuit says.

“Dr. Blankenship was aware of (Garrick’s) recent inheritance, business activities and vulnerabilities … and exploited them to exercise coercive control,” the complaint says.

That included arranging a trip to Las Vegas while Garrick was “plied with psyschoactive substances, and took him to an all-hours chapel for a ‘commitment ceremony,” the lawsuit states.

She also added him to the deed of an investment property and then entered into an “inappropriate relationship” with a contractor as they worked to defraud him, according to the complaint.

Garrick sustained a severe hip injury after being assaulted by Blankenship, losing 50 pounds and forcing his hospitalization, his lawsuit claims.